Threads
by TheFandomMenace1
Summary: Yuffie has always been vociferous about her hatred of 'girly' things. But doth she protest too much?
1. Thesis

"I mean, it's just gross, don't you think? All this twirling around like a vapid airhead kind of nonsense. Am I right?"

"Sure."

"Like, 'Ooh, look at me! I'm all prim and proper and, like, a total doormat'."

"I see."

"'A magic pixie girl! Every man's blithe freakin' dream'! Give me a _break!_ Can you imagine anything _more_ infantile?"

"That's very interesting," Cloud supplied with the barest hint of enthusiasm.

He wondered what had set off this particular line of conversation. They _had_ wandered past a dressmaker earlier, its wares prominently displayed on headless mannequins, which he found just a little bit unsettling for some reason. In any case, Yuffie had decided to take the opportunity to make perfectly clear to him, and not for the first time, her absolute loathing and detestation of anything she deemed 'girly'.

They were on one of their shopping trips down in the local markets for food and supplies for the 7th Heaven when they'd struck up a conversation. Of course, 'conversation' between the two of them usually meant her chattering away about whatever was on her mind at the moment, punctuated by occasional grunts or murmurs in the affirmative from him, to indicate (or at least feign) that he was still listening, until he could hand her off to someone else.

These trips were becoming a lot more frequent lately, as Yuffie had recently bought an apartment in downtown Edge, to "get away from all that noise", as she put it. 'Noise' being her father's ceaseless meddling in her affairs. He couldn't say he blamed her. In any case, she'd been hoarding boxes in one of the upstairs rooms of the 7th Heaven for weeks now in preparation for moving into her new place.

"And those stringy things that people leave hanging down, er, what do you call'em?"

"Tassels?" he offered.

"Speaking from experience there, Spikey?" she needled him, suddenly turning on her compatriot. "Ha, come to think of it, _you've_ probably got more experience with all that than me! Maybe you should get up to it more often, huh?"

Oh, great, Cloud thought. Tifa had brought that up, had she? The Incident. Though he had sometimes wondered afterwards why such an occurence should inspire embarrassment. Nobody cared anymore when women put on 'manly' clothes, after all. The answer, he realized, plain as day, was that society deemed that it was shameful to _be_ a woman. To be a woman, after all, was to be beneath men. He hadn't dwelt on it for long, though it struck him as strange how accepted this way of thinking still was, among men and women alike. Either way, he decided to brush it off with characteristic nonchalance. It wasn't exactly a state secret, and it certainly hadn't been _his_ idea to start with.

"Would love to, your Highness, but I'm afraid that lavender just isn't my color."

"Pff, you're no fun!" Yuffie replied. "Anyway, did you see those things in the shop windows? With all the shimming and appliqué and stuff? I mean, yuck! You wouldn't catch me _d_ _ead_ in one of those things. Never ever ever ever _ever_. And that's _tha_ _t_ ," she declared with perfect confidence as they reached the steps of the 7th Heaven, swinging her arms outwards, as if to emphasize this latest proclamation and cement it in stone.

Cloud wondered idly if his friend did protest too much. And where she'd picked up a term like 'appliqué'. Out loud, however, he simply replied: "Right, well... good talk."

"Hey, where are you going?" Yuffie called after him as he headed down the road.

"Home," he replied, turning around. "I moved out, remember?"

 _Ah, of course,_ Yuffie thought. _He and Tifa had been together for so long, but not_ _ **together**_ _together. And finally he'd decided to move away, to make things less awkward for everyone._

"Oh, right," she replied out loud as he wandered off. "Catch you on the flip-side!"

Walking in the doorway, she paused. "Do people still say that?" she muttered to herself, then shrugged. "Ah, well.."


	2. Anti-thesis

**[7th Heaven, the next day]**

Yuffie ran her hands over the soft, smooth fabric, savoring that tingling sensation that it caused on her skin. Gods, she had been about to _explode_. Eight whole weeks without a chance to..

She looked over the boxes that filled every last bit of free space in her temporary lodgings, all packed with dresses of every variety. _"But which one first?"_ she wondered, grinning from ear to ear. So many choices of style and fabric: Silk, lace, sequined, charvet, slip-dresses, bouffants, sundresses, pinafores, full-length gowns... It was enough to make her go light-headed.

Finally, she resolved to try on _all_ of them, and to hell with being choosy. She scampered and frolicked about the room, changing from one article of clothing to another with abandon, pausing occasionally to admire herself in the full-length mirror in the corner.

She picked out a white summer dress and held it up against her body, feeling quite pleased with how it fell against her figure, when she spotted Cloud in the mirror, about to enter the room, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

"Aaahh, what are you _doing!?_ " she cried out, startling him.

He glanced up at her for the briefest of moments, then quickly averted his eyes. "S-sorry," he replied. She picked up an empty box and threw it his way as he ducked out of the room, and he managed to shut the door just in time to block the incoming projectile.

There was a long silence.

"W-what are you doing here?" Yuffie finally asked, her voice shaky.

"I was just.." Cloud sputtered. "Teef said you needed some help moving your stuff, so.."

A beat.

"I didn't see anything. Not really. Sorry again," he added, red-faced at having walked in on his friend like this.

Another silence followed. Clearly, Yuffie still felt too embarrassed to say anything else. Although the strange thing was that he could have sworn he'd seen her holding up a... dress? It had all happened rather too quickly for him to get a look, but that was how it appeared. But he knew that couldn't be right.

He simply stood there, too abashed to do anything but wait for Yuffie to either tell him to come inside or go away.

Yuffie, meanwhile, scrambled for her clothes. Except, she realized to her horror, she had left her usual combination of shorts and tank top in the bathroom, which only left one option..

 **[A moment later]**

"...Okay, you can come in now."

Cloud pushed the door open with some reluctance. As he entered the room, he saw that Yuffie was even more red-faced than he was, if that was possible. The young ninja kept her gaze firmly locked on the ground. And she was very much wearing a dress. Not only that, Cloud realized, but the two of them were surrounded by a veritable cornucopia of dresses, of every kind imaginable. He noticed that she was wearing make-up, as well, another thing she had condemned multiple times as 'girly'. Eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, the works.

He cleared his throat, attempting to broach the inevitable topic with something resembling tact. "You, ah, look different.." he said, reflexively scratching the back of his head and looking away.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Spikes. Like you've never sported a frilly dress in your life."

 _"_ _Touché_ _"_ , Cloud thought, more than a little amused at how absurd this whole situation seemed.

"So.." he ventured, after a long, awkward silence.

"Yeah, okay. So, the big secret's out. I like to look... _pretty_ ," Yuffie said, with obvious disdain for that word. "Sometimes. Like, occasionally. VERY occasionally."

The pile of boxes behind her slid apart and fell open, spilling dozens more imported and expensive-looking dresses on the floor.

"Every now and then, all right?" she added hurriedly.

A second hill of boxes collapsed in a similar manner, as if conspiring to emphasize the point.

"Okay, fine. A _lot_ of the time," she finished, exasperated.

Cloud found all of this quite perplexing, to say the least. Not to mention an unexpected, though not unwelcome, change. Despite Yuffie's normal choice of outfit being less-than-modest, the simple, white dress she had picked out brought out her petite but perfectly proportioned figure in a way that he'd never noticed before. He wondered, had she always been so... curvy?

"How did you... collect all of these?" he asked, looking over the roomful of boxes. He had to wonder how Yuffie had kept her secret hobby a... well, a _secret_ all these years.

Yuffie sighed. "Just shoot me now."

"Why?" Cloud asked. "What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand," the young ninja muttered, turning away.

"Yuffie, it's not a big deal," Cloud said. "You're worried about what, exactly? Losing your tomboy image? I think it's going to take more than a few dresses to do that."

And just when he thought her face couldn't get any redder, it did. She clenched her fists together hard as her gaze returned to the floor. "...S-shut up, and just... get out, okay?"

"Okay, fine," Cloud said calmly as he headed out the door. He couldn't resist a parting shot on his way out, however. "That _does_ look nice on you, though."

" _OUT!_ "


	3. Synthesis

**[Later still, downstairs in the bar]**

Cloud had seated himself at one of the corner tables with a drink. He knew what was coming, and had braced himself for it. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the young kunoichi came down the stairs, headed straight for him.

She was back in her usual, black shorts-and-top outfit, decked out with caltrops, shurikens, kunai, and a host of other, equally sharp devices for cutting her foes down to size. He looked up at her. She looked back, evidently not the least bit amused by any of this. She leaned in close, pressing a shuriken up against his face, which only confirmed his suspicion.

"I swear, Spikes, you breathe a word of this to _anyone_..." she said, shooting him the most venomous of death glares he'd ever seen, although the effect was somewhat undermined by the make-up that she'd apparently neglected to remove.

"I'll take it to my grave," he replied, crossing his heart and raising his hand. "Scout's honor."

"Good," Yuffie relaxed her stance. She leaned back and crossed her arms, looking relieved, then puzzled. "You were in the scouts?"

"No."

"Hey," Tifa's voice came from upstairs, "what's all this... _stuff_?"

Cloud had always wondered what the proverbial deer caught in the headlights might look like. Yuffie's reaction, he figured, gave a pretty good approximation.

"..Oh, crap."

The two of them bolted upstairs to find Tifa sifting through Yuffie's small mountain of clothing. "Guys, what _is_ all this?" she asked, holding up a particularly delicate, nearly see-through pink article. "There's like a hundred dresses in here."

Yuffie and Cloud both mentally scrambled for an answer. "Um, they're, uh.."

"They're for Marlene's birthday," Yuffie said. "Yeah."

"Yuffie..." Tifa sighed and shook her head, "you really are a terrible liar. These are _way_ too big for Marlene. That can only mean one thing.."

The two of them stood in front of her, in sheepish silence. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at the two of them critically for a moment. One could almost hear the egg timer ticking away inside her head..

And finally, it went off.

"...Cloud, are these yours?"

Both of them were utterly floored for a moment, on the inside at least. They hoped it didn't show outwardly. Cloud glanced over at Yuffie, who looked back at him, pleading.

 _"Please don't tell her, please don't tell her, please... You_ _ **promised!**_ _"_ she thought at him hard enough that she swore he could almost hear her.

He turned away from Yuffie's pleading gaze to meet with Tifa's. "Uh, yeah. They're... mine. They're all mine. I've... I've got it bad, Teef."

Tifa's expression went from one of annoyance to one of sheer stupefaction. "Well... okay, then. I mean, it's not a big deal, really. I just thought... um.. right... well.." she stammered. "To each his own, and all that. But, could you move'em outta here soon? We need the space."

"..I'll get right on it," Cloud said.

With that, Tifa left the room, looking flustered, confused, and more than a little bewildered. Once she was out of earshot, Yuffie sighed with relief. "Thanks for covering for me."

"You're welcome," Cloud said dryly. "Boy, this is gonna get me some weird looks for a while.."

"Oh, come on, Spikes," Yuffie laughed. "Admit it, it was funny."

She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder when he didn't reply. "Right?"

Cloud's mood remained sour, however. Yuffie bit her lip, in thought. Strangely enough, given the sheer amount of tension that had just unraveled between them, it suddenly seemed to her the perfect opportunity to act on her long reined-in feelings..

"Hey, I've got an idea..." she said. She tiptoed up to match his height, whispering in his ear. "How about a private exhibition tonight?"

Cloud's eyes went wide at Yuffie's sudden forwardness, as she drew away with a suggestive wink and a grin. He figured she had to be messing with him, but she merely awaited his reply with no hint of deception about her. Seeing that she was sincere in her offer, he smiled in return. Now, _that_ he wouldn't miss for the world.


	4. Vignettes I

**Author's note:** Main story's finished. Anything after this point will mainly be vignettes and addenda, hastily scribbled, as they occur.

 **Vignettes I**

* * *

Tifa watched from behind the bar as Cloud and Yuffie carried the last of the boxes downstairs. For the better part of the last hour, she had done her utmost to avoid _that_ topic, something for which her two friends were quietly grateful.

"So... you're all, er, boxed up?" she asked.

"More or less," Cloud replied.

They had already filled up a delivery van and sent it on ahead with the majority of Yuffie's things, so all that was left was to carry the last remaining ones over to her apartment by hand. As Cloud came down the stairs, however, the box he was carrying obscured his view, causing him to knock another, smaller box off a table, spilling its contents all over the floor. Said contents included a pair of extremely frilly, pink briefs. Tifa's eyes bulged. She turned her attention to Yuffie and Cloud, giving them a funny look. Especially Cloud.

"Hey, watch it!" Yuffie called, rushing over to snatch the briefs up from the ground. "Those are really expensive!"

She froze, noting the suspicious look she was getting from Tifa.

"... _looking_ ," she quickly added. "Expensive-looking. I mean, wow, these must've cost you a fortune, huh, Spikes?" she continued, elbowing Cloud and winking at him. "What with all the embroidery and soft fabric and... stuff.."

She lingered for a moment, running the fabric between her thumb and forefinger, entranced, then suddenly remembered that she was still being watched.

"Um, NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT! BYYEEE!" she added, tossing the briefs back in the box before shoving Cloud out the door ahead of her.

"Smooth," Cloud said as they walked down the steps of the 7th Heaven.

"I thought so," Yuffie replied, feeling pleased with herself.


	5. Vignettes II

**Vignettes II**

* * *

As they got far enough away from the 7th Heaven to be certain they weren't being overheard, Cloud finally spoke up.

"I've got to ask, though... why do you mind so much if people find out about this? I can promise you that none of them are going to be shocked. Well, okay, maybe a _little_ surprised, but I don't think anybody's really going to care. And I'm sure Tifa would be delighted, for one.."

Yuffie sighed. She knew the question would keep coming up, and seeing as how Cloud had done her a favor by covering up for her, she figured that she at least owed him a real explanation of why it bothered her so much.

"'cause it makes me look weak, okay?"

Yuffie's seemingly irrational fear puzzled Cloud. He'd watched her make death-defying leaps from one skyscraper to another, and throw herself headlong into fights with enemies three times her size without the slightest hesitation. The last thing Yuffie Kisaragi was, as far as he was concerned, was weak.

"I don't get that," he replied. "Why do you think it would make you look weak?"

"Well, how would _you_ feel if someone outed you on a hobby like this?"

"You mean like just now?" Cloud said. The joke was lost on her for a second.

"Uh, yeah. Sorta," Yuffie replied, scratching the back of her head. "But, seriously, how would you feel about it?"

Cloud shrugged. "I wouldn't care."

" _Really?_ " Yuffie replied.

"I mean, not that I have any interest in this sort of... stuff. But if I did, I honestly wouldn't care."

"Huh."

"I just figure, why put so much stock into what other people think about you?" Cloud said. "Who the hell are they, after all?"

"That's... kinda cold, Spikes," Yuffie said. "You mean you don't care what _anyone_ thinks?"

"Not exactly," Cloud said. "Just most people. So, why does it bother you?"

Yuffie frowned. "It just... it feels like I've been fightin' the whole world my entire life. As long as I can remember. Shinra, the Wutaian patriarchy, my _dad_... I could never let up."

"So... no-one else knows about this?" Cloud asked.

"No," Yuffie said. "Just you. I'd like to keep it that way. For now, at least."

Cloud looked over at his friend, finally grasping her dilemma. Still, what did that say about their relationship, that she was willing to let up her guard in front of him like this? He suddenly felt incredibly flattered by the kind of trust that she was willing to place in him.

"Come on, it's just a little further," Yuffie said, picking up speed as they neared her apartment.

Cloud quickened his own pace as well, wondering exactly what she had in mind..


	6. Vignettes III

**Vignettes III**

* * *

 **[Later that night - Yuffie's apartment]**

A few hours later, they had squared most of her things away, but Yuffie's new habitat was still a mess of scattered boxes and out-of-place furniture. The top-floor apartment afforded them a splendid view of the city, however, its thousand points of light burning like a field of stars in the dark night.

The lighting within the apartment itself remained sparse, with only a single lamp providing illumination. Yuffie led Cloud over to the couch and sat him down, then disappeared behind a simple set of folding screens. He sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do with himself, while the young ninja was occupied with getting changed. He could hear her moving and shifting around behind the folding screens, picking out this article of clothing and that, as if undecided on what to wear for her little 'display'.

"Okay... here goes," he heard Yuffie say, after a while, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She slid out from behind the screens, sporting a simple, light green dress. "Ta-dah!" she said, then spun around in a quick circle before pausing, allowing him to take in her changed appearance.

"Well?" she asked.

Cloud stared at the young ninja, mesmerized, completely at a loss for words. Although he had always thought of her as 'cute', he had never known Yuffie to flaunt her looks like this, but when she did, it was something else entirely. Gods, she was beautiful. How had he never noticed until now?

Yuffie looked at him, expectant, and he realized that he should probably say something before the silence became awkward.

"...You look amazing," he replied, stunned.

Yuffie blushed and turned away, which only served to heighten her allure. "Come on... really?"

"I'm serious," Cloud said.

Yuffie smiled, then walked over and sat down next to him. Despite her initially happy reaction to his words, she now appeared glum, for some reason. "It's nice of you to say," she said. "I mean, I like to pretend from time to time, but... I know I'm not _really_ pretty. Not like Tifa or Aerith.."

Cloud, puzzled by his friend's doubts about herself, shifted closer to her and took her hand. "You're wrong."

Yuffie looked up at him. He looked back at her, with absolute sincerity in his eyes. And they were suddenly _very_ close.

"..Spikes?" she whispered.

They both leaned in closer, and she closed her eyes. But then, Cloud broke off at the last moment, just before their lips touched. "I, um... I should go."

Yuffie's eyes fluttered open again, the expression on her face somewhere between disappointment and anger, until she noted how troubled her companion suddenly looked. She looked at Cloud as he excused himself and made to leave, perplexed by his sudden, inexplicable retreat.

"Hey, wait," she got up and stopped him as he reached the exit to her apartment. "Come by tomorrow?"

Her hand lingered on his arm as they stood there for a moment in the doorway. Cloud nodded and gave her an apologetic look, then left without a word.

* * *

As he wandered back home through the bustling streets, Cloud wondered why he hadn't stayed. The more he thought about it, the more he kicked himself for leaving so abruptly. What had gotten into him, all of a sudden? He _liked_ Yuffie. She clearly liked him back. And he could think of few other people that he knew as closely or trusted as well. She wasn't simply the bratty little girl he'd bumped into in the woods way back when. Well, she still was, in a way, but she was becoming a mature, entrancing young woman as well, one whose fiery, outgoing personality complemented his own stoicism perfectly. And she was certainly growing more attractive by the day..

So, why?

He turned the question over in his head all the way home, and found that he couldn't give a real answer.


	7. Vignettes IV

**Vignettes IV**

* * *

When he returned to Yuffie's apartment the next day, he hardly recognized the place. It looked less like a living space and more like a personal gym, with all the remaining boxes gone, replaced by exercise mats and equipment. He spotted Yuffie in the corner of the room, whipping around a punching bag, which she was giving a sound thrashing with a flurry of punches and kicks. She had switched back to her usual outfit consisting of a tank top and shorts, with her collection of dresses nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," she greeted him as he entered the room.

"Hey," Cloud replied, looking around, impressed with how quickly she had finished setting the place up.

"Just wrapping up my workout," Yuffie said, still circling the punching bag, throwing jabs as she did. "Wanna join me?"

"Sure," Cloud replied.

He set his backpack down and took up a position next to her on one of the weight training benches she had set up. They exercised next to one another in relative quiet, changing positions and equipment every now and then. Neither of them mentioned his abrupt disappearance the night before, or anything else that had occured up until this point, almost like it didn't happen.

It was more like old times, he thought. He could tell that Yuffie was pushing herself even harder than usual, and did his best not to sneak too many surreptitious looks at her while she circled her target with surprising agility and grace.

Finally, she invited him to spar with her. Cloud agreed, and they both moved over to the wide mat in the center of the room. It was clear from the beginning that their fighting styles were completely different.

He preferred to plant his feet and reflect his enemies' blows before counterattacking, focusing on controlling the center of the battlefield, whereas Yuffie would zip around the room, shifting her position so quickly that there was little chance that anyone could land an attack on her. She was the unstoppable force to his immovable object.

As their sparring session was winding down, Yuffie twisted her ankle while pivoting in order to throw a punch, causing her to overextend her attack. Cloud moved to parry the blow, but her awkward stance and forward momentum caused her to bowl him over and send them both crashing to the mat. The two of them lay there in a heap for a long moment, with Yuffie laying on top of Cloud, her body pressed against his. Cloud froze up, feeling every curve of her body as she shifted her weight ever so slightly. Yuffie, likewise, was left in a daze as she caught her breath, cheeks flush as her eyes met his, dark amber gazing into an infinity of blue.

Realizing that she was staring, Yuffie broke away, clearing her throat. She pushed herself into a sitting position, still straddling Cloud's abdomen. "Looks like this round goes to me," she declared proudly, grinning and crossing her arms.

"Guess so," Cloud said, smiling up at her.

She got up and extended a hand to help her sparring partner back to his feet. "Hey, how about some chow?" she said. "I'm starving."

"Yeah... me too," Cloud replied. He glanced over at her apartment's kitchen nook, which was sparsely stocked. "You know how to cook?" he asked.

Yuffie shook her head. "You're kidding, right? I wouldn't know where to start. You?"

Cloud shrugged. "Last time I tried, people thought I was trying to poison them."

"So... take-out?" Yuffie suggested.

"Sure, sounds good."

"Cool. Go ahead and order up," Yuffie said. "I'm just gonna hit the shower, okay? I'm good with anything except chow mein."

Cloud watched as she left, then reached for his phone, before deciding to take a walk instead. He knew a good place that wasn't too far. Besides, despite how casual his relationship with Yuffie was getting, he still thought he should afford her a little privacy. With that in mind, he exited the apartment and took to the streets of Edge.


	8. Vignettes V

**Vignettes V**

* * *

 **[Later that evening]**

Yuffie leaned forward, regarding herself in the bathroom mirror as she combed her fingers through her hair. After her shower, she had switched from her usual shorts and top into a pink, buttoned-up dress. It hadn't occurred to her when she was picking it out, but now that she had a chance to examine her reflection, she realized it wasn't unlike the ones Aerith used to wear, minus the heavy, red coat.

She considered for a moment whether to change into something else. It was getting close to February 7th, after all. Cloud always got extra quiet and distant around this time of year. That might explain his earlier reticence, she realized. Maybe he'd take it the wrong way?

No, she thought. That was being silly. He would never react like that. He knew she cared for their fallen friend as much as anyone else. If anything, she had always admired (and envied) the erstwhile Cetra's natural elegance, and her enigmatic connection with Cloud..

She wondered what was going on between the two of them now. All this hanging out, all of a sudden. Yes, she had been the one to initiate it, but he hadn't said no. If anything, he seemed perfectly happy around her. Maybe he was just being polite, but there was always that small part of her that hoped against all odds that he might feel the same way about her.

She sighed, looking down, gripping the sides of the sink. "Stop being dumb, Yuffie," she said to herself. "You're just friends. That's all."

 _"All it's ever gonna be,"_ she thought.

She looked back up to the mirror, steeling herself to meet with the outside world again. _"All right, Yuffs, snap out of it. Game face on."  
_

* * *

She emerged from the bathroom, surprised to find that she was alone in her apartment. She picked up her phone, about to call Cloud when her doorbell rang.

He greeted her in the doorway, loaded with delicious-looking fast food. "Hey," he said, pausing slightly as he took in her changed appearance.

"Hey," she replied. "You just up and disappeared."

"I didn't think it was, uh, appropriate for me to stay while you were.." he trailed off, gesturing towards the bathroom.

Yuffie giggled. "Wow, you're all old-fashioned chivalry, aren't you, Spikes?" she said, urging him to come inside.

"Well, there _was_ that one time I rescued a princess.." Cloud said, entering the apartment.

"Oh, really?" Yuffie replied, playing along. "You'll have to tell me _all_ about it."

* * *

They sat down on the couch and dug into their food. After spending half the day exercising, they found that they were both too tired to move around much, so instead they tuned into a movie marathon, watching the screen idly together late into the night, barely aware of the passage of time. They were on their third film of the night, an old-fashioned black-and-white noir piece from the era of trench coat-wearing private eyes, femme fatales, and smoke-filled dives, when, without realizing it, they were practically curled up together.

Cloud had been slightly startled when Yuffie moved up next to him, yawning and stretching, before first leaning her head against his shoulder, then sliding further down still, until she was resting her head in his lap. Not that he minded. Quite the contrary. The sensation of her warm body laying against his was more pleasant than anything he could remember in a long time.

He gazed down at her still form. The simple, elegant dress she had picked out. It occurred to him only now that this was her way of blowing off steam. He realized something else, too. She really was beautiful, always had been. This just brought it out more, threw it into sharper relief. Why she suddenly wanted him to spend more time with her, he didn't know, but he was glad she did. He shut his eyes and listened to the rain beating against the windows, letting out a content sigh, idly running his fingers through her soft locks as she drifted off to sleep.

He was nearly asleep himself when he heard her speak up softly. "Hey, Cloud?"

"..Hmmm?" he replied, jolted out of his reverie by her sudden murmur. He was certain that she had nodded off, and hadn't wanted to move, for fear of waking her up.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not telling."

"Like I said, it's no big deal."

"No, it is," Yuffie said. "For me. I know it's silly, but.."

"It's okay," Cloud said. "I won't mention your hobby if you don't want me to. I'm just still not sure why you feel the need to hide it, that's all."

"I know, I know," Yuffie said. "I just don't like people knowing about... _this_ side of me."

"Why?"

"'cause... people think I'm one thing, right?" Yuffie explained. "And if they see this, they'll just think of me as a phony. That the scrappy little hell-raiser they know is really just some dainty pixie in disguise."

"Who says you can't be both?" Cloud asked, still genuinely puzzled by Yuffie's hesitation to let people in on this whole thing. It hadn't changed her in his eyes. She remained that same badass girl he'd run into in the woods years ago, the one he'd always known. This was just another side of her, one that made him appreciate the whole of her even more.

"You could just tell people," he replied. "Get that weight off your shoulders. No-one's going to think any different of you."

"Maybe," Yuffie said. "But not just yet. Can we keep it a secret a little longer?"

Cloud nodded. "All right."

She sat up, eyeing him with a curious look on her face. "Can I ask you something?"

Cloud said nothing, but gave a half-nod to indicate his assent.

"Last night," Yuffie said, "you almost kissed me."

He nodded again, wondering where this was going.

Yuffie looked down, bit her lip, then glanced back up at him. "Why didn't you?"

Cloud hesitated, uncertain himself of the answer. "I... didn't want to take advantage, that's all," he finally replied.

 _"No, by all means, take advantage."_ Yuffie thought. _"Literally, right this second, if you want."_

Out loud, she replied: "Oh.."

He could see the disappointment in her eyes, even as she broke away from his gaze. "I get it. You don't like me that way," she continued.

He leaned in closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't say that."

"Then, what-" she started to ask, before she was cut off by Cloud pressing his lips against hers. She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, taken by surprise, before returning the kiss, letting it grow in its intensity as they embraced each other tightly.

After what felt like hours of pure pleasure, he broke away, smiled at her. "That answer your question?"

"I don't know," she replied, grinning. "I didn't hear so good. You mind repeating that?"

They shared a second kiss, even longer and more passionate than their first. "You wanna... stay the night?" Yuffie whispered in Cloud's ear as they broke away again.

"You sure this isn't going too fast?" Cloud asked.

"We've been taking it slow for years," Yuffie said. "Wouldn't you say?"

Another nod. She had him there.

"You like this dress?" she asked.

"It looks good on you," Cloud said.

"Great," Yuffie said, taking his hand, leading him away from the couch and towards her bedroom. "Come on. I've got some other things I wanna show you."


End file.
